Bug Description

I have installed Dapper on an Averatec 3250HX-01, and the networking does not work (ie. nothing but the machine's own IP can even be pinged), despite being recognized and setup.

This laptop has a Via VT6102 networking chipset (Rhine II) and a RaLink RT2500 wireless chipset.

If I try to 'bounce' (disable and then enable) the wired (or wireless) ethernet using the 'Networking' program, the machine locks up.

dmesg indicates there is some kind of IRQ conflict (both the wired and wireless chipsets are assigned to IRQ 11).

Wired networking works perfectly under Breezy (I verified this by booting from a Breezy LiveCD) despite the same conflict. Furthermore, under Breezy the video chipset is *also* assigned to IRQ 11, so this may be a red-herring.

A helpful soul on #ubuntu suggested I try adding pci=routeirq to the boot params, but this did nothing.

Please note the attachments to this bug, which now include (from Dapper, unless otherwise noted) dmesg output, 'lspci -vv output', and 'cat /proc/interrupts' output, from both my 3250HX-01 laptop as well as Centaur5's 3225HS-20 laptop, which has identical networking chipsets and identical symptoms.

Also attached is some output from Breezy, under which the networking works correctly, unlike Dapper.

I upgraded from Breezy to Dapper and immediately after rebooting the network devices no longer worked. Using the VIA 6102 I can get an IP address from my router or use static but either way I can't ping the router or the outside. If I try to restart the network device then the laptop freezes.

I tried to start the wireless but it locks up the machine immediately. It often locks up when I'm trying to input the wireless essid into the network manager. Setting up the wireless connection via iwconfig and then using ifconfig to start the device causes an immediate freeze.

This is the 'lspci -vv' output under breezy on an Averatec 3250HX-01. The only notable difference from Dapper (to my inexpert eyes) is that the S3 video chipset *also* gets IRQ 11 (instead of IRQ 9), for a total of three devices assigned to that IRQ (lines 24, 116, and 126). For whatever reason, this does not seem to cause any problems under Breezy, so perhaps the IRQ collision issue is a red herring.

John, Please note that the problem happens even when 'bouncing' eth0 (the Via VT6102), not just the RT2500. And when Centaur5 tried blacklisting the RT2500 module on his 3225HS-20, the problem still occurred.

Paul asked what the exact reproducible steps are to duplicate the crash. This had been described in general terms earlier, but here it is:

1) Go to 'System > Administration > Networking'.

'Networking' GUI comes up.

2) Click either the wireless (ra0) or wired (eth0) interfaces to select it.

Interface is selected.

3) Click 'Deactivate' button.

Selected interface is disabled (greyed out) in the GUI.

4) Click 'Activate' button.

'Spinner' mouse cursor starts after the click, but then the screen freezes (the animated cursor even stops in mid-spin), and no further interaction with the laptop is possible by keyboard or mouse.

At this point, I have tried switching to a virtual terminal (by ctrl-alt-F1, for example), retsarting X by ctrl-alt-backspace, and rebooting by ctrl-alt-delete. Nothing works, the screen remains frozen, and the only option is to power down the laptop and reboot.

Just like to chime in here briefly. I also own an Averatec laptop (3250, I think) and am experiencing the same issue with ethernet in dapper.

However, the ethernet will work properly (even after loading X) if I disable ACPI in grub (adding "acpi=off" to the end of the boot command). Of course this is a suboptimal solution but I hope that helps someone fix this, as I know very little about linux myself.

Paul, I can confirm that adding 'acpi=noirq' to entries in /boot/grub/menu.lst eliminates both ethernet problems (ie. both the inability to use the network and the system freeze when bouncing an interface), for both the 2.6.15 and 2.6.17 kernels (the latter provided by Ben Collins for testing) on my 3250HX-01.

Chuck, can you explain what you mean by 'blacklisting' the motherboard?

I originally reported this in #34958. I can confirm the acpi=noirq option in the appropriate menu.lst entry works. However current ISOs do not include this fix, which makes it very difficult for a new user to update their system unless they are aware of this bug report and read it completely. Is there a better way to let Averatec owners know about this ?

The blacklisting is now automatic, but only after applying a kernel upgrade. So, basically, if one has an Averatec 3250HX-01 like me, they have to first manually modify the menu.lst entry for the kernel they load and add the acpi=noirq option to enable network access, and apply current updates to the kernel.

Similar problem now exists in Feisty with my laptop listed above. Instead of completely locking up the machine it just makes the cpu max out at 100% making the laptop extremely slow but still able to shut down safely. Applied acpi=noirq at the end of the boot line in grub and it fixed the problem again. Let me know if you need additional info.

Using Kubuntu 7.04 and am still seeing this problem. Took me a few days to find this workaround. Added acpi=noirq to the the grub menu.lst at the end of the kernel line and I am now able to use ethernet. Had to do this again after doing an update.

Hello there. I'm not sure this is known or not, but I thought I'd post anyway.

The acpi=noirq fix/workaround is still necessary for this laptop. I have an Averatec 3200 series and just downloaded and installed Gutsy from the Live CD in the last few days. I had the above problems untill I finally searched google for ubuntu averatec internet not work or some such thing and found this thread. Others have the problem too:http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=3752219

Hardy Heron Alpha2 was recently released. It contains an updated version of the kernel. You can download and try the new Hardy Heron Alpha2 release from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/hardy/alpha-2/ . You should be able to then test the new kernel via the LiveCD. If you can, please verify if this bug still exists or not and report back your results. General information regarding the release can also be found here: http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/hardy/alpha2 . Thanks!

Can anyone else test with the latest Hardy Alpha release and verify if this is still an issue? We'll keep this report open against the actively developed kernel but against 2.6.22 this will be closed. Thanks.

I have a compaq armada E500 laptop, just put Hardy beta on it, and can confirm this bug.
To install Hardy I had to use acpi-off, or it would freeze rightaway.

For the rest Hardy works fine, except for networking.
The network-connect-button on right-top bar swirls when I plug the ethernet in, and displays a connection. I also tried to boot with
and without the network connected.

Searching on internet suggests that I may have to do with the BIOS, but I can't really get to fix it.
The latest BIOS update HP offers for the Armada E500 is from 2001, so I guess that is not the solution either.

Sorry for the delayed response. Care to open a new bug report? You seem to have a different set of hardware than the original bug reporter. It is helpful to the development teams if bug reports target one specific issue against a specific set of hardware. We can easily mark bugs as duplicates of one another later on if necessary. Also, in your new bug report if you could include the following debug information that would be great - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies .

Leann, that laptop is currently my SO's primary machine, so I can't 'experiment' on it much (and I couldn't get the beta desktop LiveCD to finish booting in one recent window of opportunity). I'll be upgrading most of our machines to Hardy soon, and I'll check it out then.

I *suspect* it is still a problem, as it certainly was for Gutsy (as Scottopoly reported in November), and the same 'acpi=noirq' solution worked then, but I will (eventually) actually test against Hardy and make sure.

The upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release is actively being worked on. Care to confirm this is still an issue with the latest Alpha for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10. You should be able to test via a LiveCD - http://www.ubuntu.com/testing. Please let us know your results. Thanks.

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

Hi Leann. As noted earlier in comments I have a VIA RHINE II revision C nic. There is no lockups that occur as the original bug stated through bouncing the network app or bouncing networking all together via the terminal. Also I am very pleased to advise that my related bug that I commented on is also fixed. Thank you to all involved, fantastic :) The latest tests I have done are on Linux PPP 2.6.27-2-generic #1 SMP Thu Aug 28 17:18:43 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux,

Tried 8.10 istall CD, stil just get a login.
Tried 8.10 alternative CD, Partinioning myself didn't sem to work on the CD, so I let it re-partition how it wanted to. Erased everything and then got stuck somewhere.

So basically my laptop is useless to me now and I could NOT verify that this bug has been fixed.

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.